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Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

I've been a fan for a while. Johnny Jewel is a Jenius and Ida No's voice is one of the most identifiable sounds of the past decade. I hadn't listened to "In the City" for a while....still one of Chromatics best moments.

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

I first heard Glass Candy when watching Bronson, and instantly became a fan
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN0XL82eO7Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN0XL82eO7Q[/ame]

I'm hoping for maybe a new album in 2011, given some of the fantastic new material they played in the past year.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwhPYcBNMVM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwhPYcBNMVM[/ame]

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

New Video & Album from Chromatics

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR87ol1G6NI[/ame]

Chromatics are ready to release their next album, entitled Kill for Love.

The 2007 LP Night Drive made Chromatics a flagship act for Italians Do It Better, the Seattle-based label run by Mike Simonetti. That record closely followed the haunting indie-disco feel of Simonetti's label, with RA's Patrick McNally describing it in terms of "sleepwalking arpeggiated bass, frictionless nightglide synthesiser pads and rhinestone spatter of glittering high-end piano." Based on the title track, Kill for Love seems to trade the disco vibe for a more indie rock feel, while maintaining the lo-fi approach.

Kill for Love is slated for release in January. Word has it that Glass Candy—another Italians Do It Better group who share a member with Chromatics—also have an album in the works called Body Work. More details on that one soon.

Tracklist
01. Into the Black
02. Kill for Love
03. Back from the Grave
04. These Streets Will Never Look the Same
05. At Your Door
06. Lady
07. Flashback
08. Running from the Sun
09. Dust to Dust
10. Birds of Paradise
11. Electricity
12. Baby
13. The River

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Live: Glass Candy at Moonfest, October 29

For some, West Palm Beach's yearly all-out Halloween fest is likely a Fear and Loathing-type experience -- and not just because there were no fewer than a dozen Hunter S. Thompsons mixing in the chaos on Clematis Street. With all the chemical indulgence, the darkness, the smoke, the guy dressed as a (eek!) used maxi pad, and all associated misdeeds coming at a person from all sides, it's either ride the tide or get towed under.

Helping the zombie nurses simultaneously find and lose their balance was electro-pop (or Italo disco, if you prefer) duo Glass Candy. On the street stage, the fest's headliners turned the 500 block of Clematis Street into an intimate show that could be absorbed up-close and from hundreds of feet away (Ultra Music Festival organizers, take note).

Perhaps it was that the threat of rain that never came that made everyone on the streets feel like they were given a shiny gift in Technicolor paper or that vocalist Ida No and keyboardist/everything Johnny Jewel were just that delightful. "Digital Versicolor" launched the Glass Candy party, and No, peeking out from heavy mascara, jumped around the stage in a houndstooth-on-acid dress in bare feet because even she can't contain herself even though she's done some of these songs hundreds of times.

With a few strategically placed spots on his face, Johnny Jewel worked his vintage Univox synthesizer and mirrored her energy. The front row might have been slugging Busch Lights, but everyone in attendance was gripping tightly to a more potent concoction found in "Candy Castle." Simply put, every artist wishes he had a composition that fully expresses the entirety of his mission, and this catchy, midtempo throbber is it. "Let's take off our masks and be so natural," she chanted in the middle, but everyone's limbs were shaking too much to comply with that order.

Over the course of the evening, cooing party princess No high-fived everyone within reach of the stage. And for everyone she couldn't physically touch, her banshee screams served just fine. Jewel never stopped moving, and when he wasn't working his wizardry on the keyboard, he joined the cheerleading efforts. The only admonishment the crowd received was when No remarked with mock disappointment, "I haven't seen a single Lady Gaga tonight!"

Eventually got to their sickly catchy jam, "Halloween." With its heavy finger snaps and a apocalyptic up-and-down keyboard line, the inevitable guest verse from Clipse could be coming at any moment. The crowd was stoked enough by all of this that eight dancers -- a couple who were dressed like Mexican wrestlers -- joined a game No onstage for a rowdy dance party that exposed the weak wiring connections of the sound equipment. The song playing ended prematurely, and the revelers dispersed. "Now I have to dance all by myself," she shouted with exaggerated sadness.

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Three years in the making, Symmetry - the project that began as a conceptual tangent between Glass Candy, Chromatics, Mirage, & Desire's more abstract sides - finally sees its release this month. Themes For An Imaginary Film is two hours of claustrophobic cinematic bliss compiled for Painters, Writers, Photographers, Designers, Cruisers, Night Walkers, & Dreamers. Adrenaline drips thick like syrup across a horizon where memories become blurred scenes behind the windshield & yesterday's faces fade as the road strobes to aggressive rhythms. Romantic melodies linger in the rearview mirror as chimera bells saturate the electric fog that's slowly rolling in.

Over the span of thirty-seven tracks, Symmetry embraces the elegance of European noir, cut with a lean & violent American razor. Directly in your face & breathing down your neck one minute, & escaping beyond the night sky the next. The attention given to color & detail on these recordings is more graphic than musical. More visual than aural. With no flashy virtuosity to clutter the mood, the album's pulse thrives on the empty pockets of space left in the wake of throbbing bass & the faint flicker of electro candlelight. Minimal, strict, & always in motion, there's an oppressive overtone throughout the record that winds itself tight as a clock. Johnny Jewel & Nat Walker (Chromatics & Desire) give us propulsive moments that are more rhythm based than Pop, & less reliant on a lyrical presence than their other projects.

A lot of computer screens this year have flashed rumors of Jewel's synthesized score for Nicolas Refn's Drive. Symmetry isn't Jewel’s score for Drive. These tracks date back to 2008 when Jewel was working on Farah's Into Eternity album. Some of the other tracks are the first things Jewel & Walker worked on in Montreal before Desire was up & running, & while Chromatics was in hiding after the success of Night Drive. As Jewel says: "We were just spending all night in a trance with not enough sleep, exploring space, rhythm & tone."

With repetitions in theme like hi hats dressed as stopwatches, and bass lines mimicking the pumping of blood, the statement of Symmetry is in the understatement. Dueling themes permeate & mirror the entire album. Feminine / Masculine. Space / Density. Bass / Treble. Tension / Release. Love / Isolation. Taking cues in texture & ambiance from American composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, & Glenn Branca, while applying the more cascading & visual concepts of European composers Maurice Ravel, Gyorgy Ligeti, Erik Satie, & Karlheinz Stockhausen. We hear all of these elements through the veil & color of analog synthesizers & rhythm machines from the early 1970s, resulting in the suspenseful & patient territory pioneered by the hands of John Carpenter, Claudio Simonetti, Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, & Krzysztof Komeda. Symmetry is not Pop. Stripped to its most primitive & visceral core, this is music written for picture. Your life is the film & this is the soundtrack.

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Johnny Jewel on Developing the Unique Soundtrack For 'Drive'

Although he's been writing, producing and performing for more than a decade as part of the electronic Portland band Glass Candy, the first time film audiences became aware of Johnny Jewel was after he contributed the track "Digital Versicolor" to the soundtrack of Nicolas Winding Refn's oddball biopic Bronson, which brought a nearly unrecognizable Tom Hardy to the States. Jewel is now poised for even greater success, as Refn's latest film, Drive, begins to catch fire in theaters nationwide—and besides Gosling, the movie's other major star are the songs from two of his other bands, Chromatics and Desire. Like what you hear? Stay tuned for more: Jewel and his collaborator Matt Walker wrote a complete (and unused) score for the film that they'll release later as an album called Symmetry. Boxoffice caught up with Jewel in an epic and fascinating interview about the relationship between music and movies—and why his original score was axed.

How did you originally get involved with Bronson and how did that lead to Drive?

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

If you're in Miami this weekend...

Who Wants Free Tickets to Glass Candy and Chromatics at Grand Central This Saturday?

Dressed like a superstylish Italo-disco dude who drives a Delorean, dances alone to Madonna, and dates his vintage synths, Johnny Jewel is the coolly smooth operator at the center of the Italians Do It Better family, not to mention indietronica crew Glass Candy and sophisticated pop quartet Chromatics.

This Saturday, he, Glass Candy, and Chromatics will be hosting a dark and dreamy dance party at downtown hangout Grand Central. And as usual, we here at Crossfade have free tickets. Just see the cut for contest instructions.

Glass Candy and Chromatics at Grand Central Giveaway Instructions

1. Head over to Crossfade's Facebook page and Like it.
2. Find the Glass Candy and Chromatics update, and leave a comment.
3. From the pool of commenters, we'll randomly select a lucky contestant to dance in the dark this Saturday at Grand Central. So keep an eye on your Facebook messages.
4. Last thing ... You only have until noon on Friday, January 20, to enter.

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Originally Posted by rimrod

i just wish the chromatics album would drop. it's been like forever already. italians do it better is sooo slow with their releases.

from their facebook page:

CHROMATICS
HEY EVERYBODY...SORRY FOR ALL THE CONFUSION ABOUT THE RELEASE DATE. JOHNNY MENTIONED IN AN INTERVIEW THAT WE WERE HOPING TO HAVE IT WRAPPED UP FOR VALENTINE'S DAY...AND THEY KIND OF RAN WITH IT. WE DON'T DO PRE ORDERS AT ITALIANS...BUT THE 16 TRACK RECORD IS IN THE CAN AND WE ARE TRYING TO SYNCHRONIZE THE CD, DIGITAL, AND VINYL FORMATS. IT'S GOTTEN REALLY COMPLICATED DUE TO A 35 PAGE ART BOOK THAT COMES WITH THE DIGITAL VERSION INCLUDING 5 VIDEOS...& SOME COMPLEX VINYL PACKAGING... THAT ALONG WITH A FEW BUMPS IN THE ROAD WITH MASTERING HAS BEEN CAUSING IT TO TAKE A LITTLE LONGER THAN WE THOUGHT... IT'S A GORGEOUS RECORD & WE WILL KEEP LEAKING TRACKS UNTIL IT'S OUT. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE SUPPORT & ENTHUSIASM. WE LOVE YOU!

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Film shot and edited by Alastair Uhlig
Super 8 film scanned by Mark Rance of Watch Works

More about the album..

Three years in the making, Symmetry - the project that began as a conceptual tangent between Glass Candy, Chromatics, Mirage, & Desire's more abstract sides - finally sees its release this month. Themes For An Imaginary Film is two hours of claustrophobic cinematic bliss compiled for Painters, Writers, Photographers, Designers, Cruisers, Night Walkers, & Dreamers. Adrenaline drips thick like syrup across a horizon where memories become blurred scenes behind the windshield & yesterday's faces fade as the road strobes to aggressive rhythms. Romantic melodies linger in the rearview mirror as chimera bells saturate the electric fog that's slowly rolling in.

Over the span of thirty seven tracks, Symmetry embraces the elegance of European noir cut with a lean & violent American razor. Directly in your face & breathing down your neck one minute, & escaping beyond the night sky the next. The attention given to color & detail on these recordings is more graphic than musical. More visual than aural. With no flashy virtuosity to clutter the mood, the album's pulse thrives on the empty pockets of space left in the wake of throbbing bass & the faint flicker of electro candlelight. Minimal, strict, & always in motion, there's an oppressive overtone throughout the record that winds itself tight as a clock. Johnny Jewel & Nat Walker (Chromatics & Desire) give us propulsive moments that are more rhythm based than Pop, & less reliant on a lyrical presence than their other projects.

A lot of computer screens have flashed rumors of Jewel's synthesized score for Nicolas Refn's Drive this year. Symmetry isn't his score for Drive. These tracks date back to 2008 when Jewel was working on Farah's Into Eternity album. Some of the other tracks are the first things Jewel & Walker worked on in Montreal before Desire was up & running, & while Chromatics was in hiding after the success of Night Drive. As Jewel says: "We were just spending all night in a trance with not enough sleep, exploring space, rhythm & tone."

With repetitions in theme like hi hats dressed as stopwatches, and bass lines mimicking the pumping of blood, the statement of Symmetry is in the understatement. Dueling themes permeate & mirror the entire album. Feminine / Masculine. Space / Density. Bass / Treble. Tension / Release. Love / Isolation. Taking cues in texture & ambiance from Amercian composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, & Glenn Branca, while applying the more cascading & visual concepts of European composers Maurice Ravel, Gyorgy Ligeti, Erik Satie, & Karlheinz Stockhausen. We hear all of these elements through the veil & color of analog synthesizers & rhythm machines from the early 1970s, resulting in the suspenseful & patient territory pioneered by the hands of John Carpenter, Claudio Simonetti, Wendy Carlos, Klaus Schulze, & Krzysztof Komeda. Symmetry is not Pop. Stripped it to its most primitive & visceral core, this is music written for picture. Your life is the film & this is the soundtrack.

Re: Glass Candy / Desire / Chromatics

Italians Do It Better Reveals New Releases from Chromatics and Symmetry

Italians Do It Better has issued oodles of gems from the likes of Glass Candy, Desire and more over the years, but the venerable imprint is apparently about to go on a tear, having announced a slew of upcoming records by dark-pop label faves Chromatics.

Though a due date wasn't given, last fall's Running From the Sun mixtape will enter the physical world with a vinyl pressing, according to the label's online store. Among the eight tracks are an alternate take on "Kill for Love" and a cover of standard "Blue Moon."

Chromatics will also issue another 12-inch called Cherry, built around the previously premiered song of the same name. The LP is bookended by the original "Cherry" and an instrumental interpretation and also contains the previously released cover of New Order's "Ceremony," which features guest vocals from Glass Candy's Ida No.

The band's "Tick of the Clock," as featured in Drive, will also be treated to a 12-inch single. The slab of wax will feature a film edit of the track, as well as an extended version and a remix from Visione.

Beyond the Chromatics releases, Italians Do It Better also has plans to issue a commercially available version of Johnny Jewel project Symmetry's The Messenger LP, which had originally been pressed as a promo LP in 2011.

You can peep all the tracklists down below

Chromatics - Running From the Sun:

1. Dreaming In Color
2. Red Car
3. Kill For Love
4. Last Wish
5. Running From The Sun
6. Disintegration
7. These Streets Will Never Look The Same
8. Blue Moon